Methanex Corporation (NASDAQ:MEOH) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Methanex Corporation (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” from the eleven research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $66.7778.

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Methanex from $70.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Methanex from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Methanex from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $69.00 price target on shares of Methanex in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Methanex from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 13th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Methanex by 14.0% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 2,746,051 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $108,917,000 after purchasing an additional 336,316 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in shares of Methanex by 629.5% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,316,270 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $92,000,000 after purchasing an additional 1,998,763 shares during the last quarter. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Methanex by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 2,048,214 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $81,363,000 after purchasing an additional 7,707 shares during the last quarter. FIL Ltd grew its holdings in shares of Methanex by 40.3% in the fourth quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 1,803,108 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $71,520,000 after purchasing an additional 518,173 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Methanex by 249.8% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 1,432,483 shares of the specialty chemicals company’s stock worth $56,939,000 after purchasing an additional 1,022,987 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 73.49% of the company’s stock.

Methanex Stock Down 2.9%

Shares of NASDAQ MEOH opened at $60.72 on Friday. Methanex has a one year low of $32.00 and a one year high of $66.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.96 and a quick ratio of 1.26. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $60.70 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $50.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $4.70 billion, a P/E ratio of -123.91 and a beta of 0.56.

Methanex (NASDAQ:MEOH) (TSE:MX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The specialty chemicals company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.08). Methanex had a negative net margin of 1.25% and a positive return on equity of 2.96%. The business had revenue of $957.42 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $964.76 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.30 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Methanex will post 6.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Methanex Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 16th will be issued a $0.185 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, June 16th. This represents a $0.74 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.2%. Methanex’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently -151.02%.

About Methanex

Methanex Corporation is a Vancouver, Canada–based company and one of the world’s largest producers and suppliers of methanol. The company manufactures methanol, a key feedstock for a wide range of chemical products and industrial applications. Methanex markets its product to customers in energy, plastics, paints and coatings, and various chemical sectors, positioning the company as a critical link in the global supply chain for basic chemicals.

The company’s core product, methanol, serves as a building block for downstream chemicals such as formaldehyde, acetic acid and methyl tertiary butyl ether (MTBE).